


Encounter

by Chellann_Nicollares



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Past Lives, Alternate Universe - Strangers, M/M, Supernatural Elements, Transmigration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-11 14:42:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3329879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chellann_Nicollares/pseuds/Chellann_Nicollares
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a prologue to their life-long love and companionship.<br/>A mysterious encounter on a hiking trip gave Rhett some new perspectives. What's meant to be is meant to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Andrew](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andrew/gifts).



> This is a strangers AU where alter-Rhett and alter-Link are both single guys who like guys. They are in their college years but haven't met each other. The fictional events take place in September 2000.

Rhett wiped away the wetness gathering on his eyelashes and obscuring his vision. The weather man was so wrong.

Drenched, he kept the mechanical repetition of lifting his thighs and bringing his feet forward. His backpack and hiking boots might be waterproof but his clothes was not. His mint colored V-neck was now a blueish cellophane that clung to every muscle. His cargo shorts seemed to have shrunken and constrained his sore legs with a wet and cold rigidity. The length of socks that sat above his boot tops were sponges pulling moisture towards his trapped feet. Next to the trail he was treading through, purple wild flowers were mercilessly assaulted by the pouring rain.

He twisted his right hand back and pulled his water bottle out of the mesh side-pocket. After emptying the unsatisfying amount of remnant liquid into his parched mouth, he cussed under his breath.

This was not how he envisioned the hike at all.

Eagle Rock had seemed an obvious choice after a long, dull summer of random odd jobs and loneliness. His short lived relationship with Leon the French exchange student had ended in a predictable, eventless hug at the university gate when he left for the airport. His home was Aix de Provence. Who would leave a place that looked like a photographer’s wet dream to settle in North Carolina anyway? Something that started without expectations should end without disappointments.

Yet, Rhett did not enjoy waking up alone. He missed the wine tinged kisses and the desperate fingers grasping his biceps. He missed pinning something beautiful against the wall and then throwing that onto his bed. He can’t go straight into his senior year of advanced engineering classes and inevitable all-nighter problem sets right after three months of blistered skin, crumpled coke cans and t-shirts ruined by paint or dirt or both.

The weekend before moving back into the dorms, he had to get away.

Eagle Rock held promises of refreshing colors, balmy air and sweat propelled endorphins. This was a ritualistic mind cleansing that Rhett did not ever invite anyone else to. But halfway up the trail, he had somehow ran out of water and luck.

He pressed his palms firmly to the top of his head and squeezed towards the back of his neck. His short dirty blond curls sprang back briefly, but was quickly and thoroughly matted down by the rain right away.

He sighed, veering left off the path.

Years of avid hiking etched the map of Eagle Rock into his brain, including unmarked nooks that escaped a tourist’s map and hid under the assumption of unremarkableness. But Rhett knew that less than 200 feet from where he was on the trail, there was a small but thick patch of woods that promised tall trees and impenetrable canopies. A few times when he was there, he had heard babbling brooks somewhere further beyond. He never left for hiking without a water filtration bottle.

With a slightly conceited smile he aimed towards the parallel rocks that marked his private entrance. He took off his backpack and held it above his head, then turned his long body sideways and slid between the boulders without touching either one.


	2. Chapter 2

Green thickened and eventually filled Rhett’s eyes. His annoyance ebbed as the leaves and branches above his head sieved the pouring rain into a more moderate drizzle. Staring down at a hefty log that looked like an inviting seat, he suddenly noticed fatigue and hunger dragging his body down. He thought about the beef jerky in his backpack, but decided against the salty, dry ropes of meat without water. He analyzed the sensations on his bare arms and decided that it was warm enough to peel off the wet shirt that no longer served any function. He set the backpack on the log and pulled the worn down fabric above his head with a relieved grunt. He briefly wrung it out and tied it onto one of the dangling straps on the side of his backpack. The laundry would surely get the wrinkles out, he thought.

With a renewed lightness to his steps he picked up the backpack and slung it back onto his shoulders, barely pausing to remember which direction the presumed brook would be. He pressed on with a sense of exhilarating uncertainty, but also the contrived confidence of a young man who thought he knew exactly where to go.

It must have been twenty minutes before his confidence started to falter. His pace slowed and his brows furrowed involuntarily. The woods looked the same but slightly different, with no indication of nearby water sources. His boots cracked and crushed fallen branches and half decomposed leaves. The purple flowers were replaced by occasional mushrooms blooming from random barks in taupe layers and folds. The rain has not slowed. A rumbling thunder rolled past the tops of the tall trees, and drained the elfin reverie from the scene. The prospect of lighting made Rhett draw a deep breath and let it out very slowly through parted lips. Dark trunks stood around him, blending into a black wall at the far edges of his vision.

Five more minutes and I’m turning back, he thought. There are water fountains in the parking lot, which required a couple of hours of walking to get back to… _But rain this heavy couldn’t carry on for long could it? Once it dies down I’ll be able to move faster…_

Rhett stared at the knotted ends of his shoelaces bouncing on top of his boots as he dragged his steps forward, simply to fulfill the decision to press on. His thumbs tucked under the padded shoulder straps of his backpack and hitched the scratchy nylon a little further together. His index fingers started to tap a fidgety beat on the straps as he looked up.

A small, tan colored structure peeked through a web of blackish brown and green.

A log cabin? Rhett chuckled and shook his head. Didn’t expect a cheap horror movie set in the middle of Eagle Rock.

He held on to the healthy skepticism and picked up his pace. As more dark trunks passed the corners of his eyes, the lighter colored wooden geometric forms started to make more sense. He saw a simple cuboid structure pieced together by tan wooden panels tainted darker towards the bottom. It sat under a slanted roof of drab corrugated metal. Three steps led up to a moderate porch outlined by sparse railings.

The rain created a monotonous percussion on the metal as Rhett came up the stairs in two steps and leaped to the door in one long, smooth stride. He knocked gently.

“Hello?”

All he could hear was the thudding rain.

He tentatively nudged the door with his right hand. It was open.

He swung the door inwards very slowly, revealing clean wooden floors and a discolored plastic wall clock with a round black frame hanging on the opposite wall. The wallpaper bore a faded floral pattern and was peeling in places. There’s an old fashioned coat stand that bloomed into curly copper rods with bulbous nobs on the ends. It was empty.

Rhett looked down at his mud speckled boots that had already tracked dark, faintly green smudges onto the porch. He felt uneasy. Surely the owner wasn’t home, but no one wants to come back to a cozy cabin and find muddy traces of an intruding stranger. He crouched down by the door and started to undo the laces.

As he stood up, ready to step out of his boots and into the cabin, the doorway was no longer empty.

Long, smooth, dark double barrels loomed inches from Rhett’s chest. Tanned arms with lean muscles held the shotgun steady. Eyes seized by the gun, Rhett heard a clear tenor voice that rang with cold menace.

“Stay there and don’t move.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character styling inspired by dorm room photos shown in GMM190. Also see the wheel ending of “How We Sang All Night Long” @ 11:32.
> 
> ***

Rhett slowly raised his hands to either side of his chest, scrambling to keep a composure to represent his non-threatening intentions. His eyes slowly travelled from the gun to the face of the stranger, and steadily held the chilling gaze. His pride forced him to balance submission with defiance.

Rhett moved to the small southern town of Buies Creek at a very young age and spent the rest of his life there, which meant he was no stranger to firearm. He knew exactly where to look and one glance told him that the safety latches were still on. However the knotted brow and firmly pressed lips of the stranger urged him to pacify the situation.

“Just a hiker, man. Ran outta water and just left the trail to dodge the rain. Thought there might be water this way and…ended up here.” He amplified the raspy southern cadence that he usually tried to suppress on campus. It’s an unspoken custom there. But standing in the backwoods of Eagle Rock facing down the barrels of a gun, Rhett knew it would take all the familiarity he could convey to dissipate the hostility.

“How’d you know to come this way?” The soft, leisured enunciation matched Rhett’s own.

“Well, been down in those woods a couple times and thought I’d see what’s on the other side.” Rhett only moved one hand to gesture with his thumb towards the direction he came from, and turned his head slightly to add a sideways nod. He did not break eye contact.

The youthful face in front of him warmed ever so slightly. The long dark eyebrows relaxed into their elegant slant. A pair of eyes the color of rain-washed Carolinian sky intently studied Rhett from head to toe. Long, thick lashes fanned up and down as his eyes traveled. Rhett took in the man’s perfectly angular nose and wide, pale pink lips whose fullness was accentuated by dark stubbles. His short-cropped inky hair jutted out every which way.

Rhett was only partly sheltered by the short eave. Raindrops persistently wet the back of his head and drummed at the top of his backpack. He observed that the other man was in a similar state of semi-undress, wearing only a pair of dark taupe corduroy pants fittingly fastened to his bare, narrow waist. A hint of cotton underwear peeked up above the waistband. The pale blue and grey plaid set off the warm tan of his glowing skin.

Adrenaline was not the only reason that Rhett’s heartbeat refused to slow down. Before he could analyze his reaction, the other man slowly lowered the gun and drew himself further back into the dim light and shadows, turning slightly to the side, leaving a welcoming void in the doorway.

Rhett slowly dropped his hands. He hesitated briefly and then decided on leaving his shoes outside. He pushed them off of his heels and slid his feet out from under the loosened laces, his now soggy socks increased the friction. As he pressed the balls of his feet on the wooden floor, the wet fabric gave an unpleasant, floppy squeak. As he was completing these awkward maneuvers, the other man had opened a narrow door to the left of the entrance, and deposited the weapon on a high shelf. He shut the closet with a clink of locking latches. Rhett set his backpack on the floor right next to the door. He took a deep breath of chilled, humid air that still smelled like the forest. The cabin seemed to be colder than the outside.

“My name is Rhett, Rhett McLaughlin.” He said with a feigned confidence dampened by awkwardness.

“I’m Jesse.” Said the stranger. “Jesse Stevenson.” Rhett thought he heard a hesitation in the statement, but decided to brush it off. No one is obliged to give their real legal name to a complete stranger any way.

“You can ditch ‘em if you want.” The stranger briefly tilted his chin towards Rhett’s feet, looking at his soggy grey socks. He pulled out one of the chairs around a small, round teak table. The moderate piece of furniture could not have been more than two feet wide in diameter. A lamp with a stocky round base and a dusty fabric lampshade was pushed all the way to the edge of the table against the windowsill. The dim glow weakly supplemented the cloud-covered sun. As Rhett obediently sat and hesitantly bent down, his brain raced to calculate where would be an appropriate place to set down a pair of wet socks in a complete stranger’s house. He moved slowly and eventually lay them flat on the floor right next to his backpack.

When Rhett looked up Jesse has disappeared further into the cabin. Just as he was marveling at how silent his footsteps had been, the brunet emerged again holding a dark red towel. He handed it to Rhett and then settled into a chair on the opposite side of the small table.

“Dry up. The floor panels don’t take well to water.”

“Thanks.” Rhett felt a warm surge in his chest despite the stranger’s curt tone. He fluffed his hair briskly, then moved fast to dab his upper body and legs.

When he looked up again Jesse was staring at him with those impossibly blue eyes that made Rhett draw a quick shaky breath. He suddenly became aware of how exposed he was in front of this strange, beautiful man.

Rhett cleared his throat and turned towards his backpack. He silently untangled his shirt from the strap and began smoothing it out.  
When he turned back Jesse was staring out the window. “So you just hiked all the way out here by yourself?” As Rhett started to form an answer while drawing the shirt onto his extended forearms, Jesse turned his head and interjected, “why’re you putting wet clothes back on?” The confusion softened his tone and brought back the pleasant reverberation in his voice.

“Uh…I just…felt like I should maybe cover myself.” Rhett immediately regretted the broken sentence that could be construed as a rude hint.

“But that’s so wet it’ll just make you colder.”

Rhett gratefully took the misinterpretation as his chance to smooth over the awkwardness. “You’re right man, I wasn’t thinking. Anyway, it’s not even cold.”

Jesse stared at him for a few more seconds with furrowed brows, and then the right corner of his full lips drew up ever so slightly. The breaths of a chuckle escaped from his nostrils. Rhett felt the remnant of confrontation and distrust thaw away from the air. He saw the otherworldly blue eyes melt with sincerity and amusement.

“Oh, right, you said you needed water? Kitchen’s that way.” Jesse waggled his thumb in the general direction and raised his hand to gently rub his eyes.

“Thank you so much.” Rhett let the formality convey his sincere gratitude, and swiftly pulled his water bottle from the mesh. He followed the host’s direction to quench his thirst.


	4. Chapter 4

When Rhett came back from the kitchen Jesse did not appear to have moved. He seemed to be lost in thought. Still mystified by the stranger, Rhett set his bottle gently on the table and went over to the wall to pull open his backpack. He dug into one of the compartment pockets and grabbed two long pieces of individually wrapped beef jerky and two protein bars. He turned and casually set them on the table.

“Would you like some?” He asked in a nonchalant tone.

“No thanks, I’m good.” The soft answer brought out a deep, warm reverberation that made Rhett suddenly yearn to hear that voice more, to listen to it tell a long story. He picked up a piece of beef jerky from the table and tore open the plastic with one smooth, quiet motion. He put the dark stringy flesh between his teeth while raking through his thoughts for an appropriate topic of conversation between two shirtless strangers. He listened to the dulled serenade of rain drops on the roof and chewed slowly, staring at the wood grains on the table.

“So you came out here all alone?” The soft tenor voice chimed. When Rhett’s eyes flicked up Jesse was looking out of the window again. The warm glow of the lamp’s light gilded the bridge of his nose and slid off the lovely sharp tip.

“Uh, yeah, School starts on Monday. Just needed a break to clear my head.” Rhett answered, wanting more time to fixate on the captivating profile. “You?”

The thick fan of eyelashes dipped down. “I’m not in school.”

Rhett was going to politely follow-up with questions about Jesse’s mysterious livelihood, when something caught his attention.  
Between the compact, strong muscles of Jesse’s shoulders, a unique necklace sat under his long neck. Thin smooth leather cords hugged the strong tendons and ran past the elegant collarbones that stood out in high relief. The cords held a piece of espresso hued obsidian, whose color warmed to the gentle glow filtered through the old lampshade. The surface of the stone was carefully carved into large, angular facets, channeling a masculine strength. The smooth, narrow outline tapered down sharply into a tip that bent slightly to the left. The jewel reminded him of wolf fangs that he occasionally saw in tourist shops.

Before he could indulge his eyes on the contrast between the rich, dark gem and the warm tan of the smooth skin in its background, Rhett realized he was staring. The object of his gaze has already turned to face him, oceanic eyes gleaming. Jessie raised his right brow.

“That’s, uh . . . very unique.” Rhett shyly gestured at the necklace, thinking to himself what a coincidence it was that Jesse favored to raise the opposite eyebrow as himself, making his incredulous look a mirror image of Rhett’s own.

Jesse’s face dropped slightly at the question. He pinched the gem with his right thumb and index finger and slid his hand down the length of it, then lightly pressed his thumb to the tip of the fang.

“This is his. This and the guitar. That’s all I have left of him.” The soft voice was pitched so low Rhett barely heard all the words in that sentence. The out-of-context statement confused him, but the loss, pain and profound sadness was unmistakable.

“I am so sorry.” Rhett offered gently.

Jesse’s eyes bore into the wood grains in front of him. He slowly lifted his arms, then set sharp elbows gently on the table. He clasped his hands, tucked and untucked them under his chin a few times in contemplation. He finally released his fingers and stacked his forearms on the table in front of his body, right hand lightly cupping the left elbow. He gently shifted his weight forward, making his lean muscular shoulders and arms flex in a very flattering way. Gravity drew the fang shaped gem away from his skin, and swung it lightly in the dim light.

The black fans of eyelashes slowly raised, and the bluest eyes Rhett has ever seen gazed into his own.

“Do you like music?”


	5. Chapter 5

The strange and sudden question widened Rhett’s eyes. But he was too captivated by the gorgeous mystery to not respond.

“I do. A lot. Almost got a band together in high school but never found the right vocalist. I still play the guitar though. Everyday.”

The word “guitar” drew a warm glow out of the gemstone irises. Jesse’s soft lips began to form a smile, but sadness returned and held them still.

“Music . . . used to be what I lived for. I’ve been singing in the church choir since middle school. I loved to see people close their eyes, swinging on their feet and mouthing the words I sang. Everything was peace, love and grace. I’d like to think that those songs really provided some sort of healing for them, and that my voice helped somehow. Before I started high school they already let me do solos. Once this little girl came up to me and help up a pink note pad, and asked if she could get an auto-giraffe.” Jesse smiled for the first time in their afternoon encounter. Rhett drank in the sight of cerulean eyes smoldering in their deep sockets, bending the row of dark lashes. Corners of full pink lips stretched up, drawing his deep Cupid ’s bow wide open. Lamplight bronzed his cherubic cheeks. Rhett would never want to forget that smile.

Jesse blinked slowly, his eyes idly wandering. “I got deeper into it in high school. Started going to talent competitions and all that stuff, hoping the right person would hear my sound so I can make something out of it.” A quick breath escaped his nostrils, almost a scoff. “I did meet this agent in Raleigh. He was on vacation visiting his family or something. Told me all the big things in pop music are happening in California, nothing I didn’t know before, on some level I guess. But…tell that to an eighteen year old who thinks he can sing…he’s gonna get some _big_ ideas.” He lifted the inner tips of his eyebrows high up, pressing exaggerated lines onto his smooth forehead, and stared straight into Rhett’s eyes with a conspiring grin. The blue searchlights made Rhett’s heart skip a frantic beat.

“Well, I moved. Just like that.” Jesse kneaded the back of his neck briefly and absent-mindedly scraped the bottom of his stubbly chin with his thumb. “My mom didn’t like it. I think that might have been the first time I really made her cry.” A deep frown fixed his eyes on the table again. “My step dad tried talking sense into me but…I never listened to the guy before, not gonna start when a dude in a suit tells me I can be a star.” A bitter smile of disbelief accompanied the frown.

“Well, the one good thing that came out of that was…that’s how I met my guitarist.” Jesse lifted his face slightly, not quite meeting Rhett’s admiring eyes. He sank deep into a nostalgic reverie, tenderness filled his eyes and held his lips in a subtle smile. “They got four of us together, there was a drummer and a kid on the keyboard too. Some kind of pop rock band they said. Front story was we grew up together, best friends in a band, all that jazz and then some. Truth is first time we met was in an office.” Jesse shook his head slowly. “But as soon as I saw him in that office, the way he smiled back at me…I just… _knew_.” Blue eyes bore into Rhett’s, making the young hiker’s heart palpitate and the soles of his feet tingle. “He had eyes just like yours, you know.”

Rhett was drawing quick, silent and shallow breaths. This stunning, mysterious stranger that he just met today, who was pointing a gun at him just a few moments ago, is now genuinely recounting his love…for a man. Rhett himself hasn’t even told his family. But at the same time, the fact that he possessed physical attributes that Jesse found attractive…was exhilarating. Rhett was dying to know the name of this guitarist, the love of Jesse’s life, but the wistful way that Jesse spoke with past tense told him that it was a name too painful to speak of.

_That’s all I have left of him._

“He was…he was so talented.” Jesse’s voice faltered as his breaths trembled. “He can just pick up the guitar and strum a few notes that don’t seem to go anywhere…and then before you know it, it’s got all the fast and slow, rise and fall, chorus and everything. And his voice…” Jesse’s eyelids were pressed shut. His sharp Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. Rhett thought he saw the long lashes tremor against the smooth cheeks. The brunet took a deep breath and blinked slowly. He looked up at the hiker.

“You know what a development deal is?” Spellbound by the sorrowful eyes, Rhett was at a loss of words and could only shake his head slowly.

“It means the company owns you, that’s what it is.” Rhett heard the cold menace of the man behind a double barrel shotgun return. Memories of the panicked sensations gripped his stomach. He felt guilty for prompting the recount of such painful memories, for putting a melancholic angel in so much distress. But a look of cynical resignation slowly took over the pain on Jesse’s face. He smiled bitterly and shook his head.

“It means that they control all the publishing rights and schedules of us. They can tell us to appear here, warm up for this band, and do the same for so and so a month later. They can tell you you’ll get a record out at some point in the future, and never get to that point. They can take the song you wrote and give it to other people, sayin’ it suits them better.” The bitter smile disappeared. Jesse’s pink lips pressed into a thin, down-turned curve. His square jaw seemed to be flexing under the mess of dark stubble. A grave frown crumpled his brow.

“We were so frustrated. When it all started we wrote lots of love songs, with secret words and phrases here and there referring to the things we did, things we loved…I think the other two guys kinda knew what we were up to, but they left us alone. Anyway it didn't matter. When we heard those songs came on the radio in someone else’s voice, we just turned it off. It just wasn't right. But we could still take comfort in the fact that no one else understood them like we did. We would get together, just the two of us, he’d play and I’d sing, forget about the world, you know? And afterwards when we kissed and…it would all have another layer to it. The first time we…well…got real intimate, he took this off of himself and put it on me. And I never took it off since then.” Jesse caressed the wolf’s fang gem, and slowly twisted it back and forth between his fingers. Warm, golden glare from the lamp rolled off of its surface.

“He put our first time in a song too, somehow managed to make everything so subtle and enigmatic. The big wigs listened to the demo and had no idea, just thought it was another love song. And then, they gave it to this blonde girl they were packaging for a country break-out star kinda thing. It was all over the radio for a good month. But…it killed him.” Rhett watched as Jesse’s eyes lost focus for a brief moment. Alarm and concern gripped his chest. He could see the ocean eyes shimmer, and teardrops threaten to breach the dam of long lashes. But the tremoring lips pressed on.

“He couldn't bear to hear it sung by a different voice. The song was for me. It was _about_ me. It was sacred.” The storyteller dipped his head. Rhett saw the visible effort of control ripple through his shoulders and the tendons on the sides of his neck. Long fingers dug into his left upper arm, turning the knuckles white. Then there was a muted thud. A tear has fallen and crashed powerlessly onto the wood grain. Jesse raised his right hand and silently buried his face in it, shoulders trembling. Rhett stared into the unruly dark hair on top of his head, unable to move. Sympathy surged and overpowered all caution. He slowly raised his right hand and placed his open palm on the tense, trembling muscles of Jesse’s left shoulder.

It was one of the coldest things Rhett has ever felt.


	6. Chapter 6

_Why is…_

Rhett did not have time to finish the thought about the persistent heat of the Carolina summer and how an afternoon rainstorm is not nearly sufficient to extinguish it, when the dark-haired beauty already lowered his hand from his face. The otherworldly blue eyes returned Rhett’s gaze, drenched by pained acceptance.

“I bet you think you know how the story ends.” The tenor voice was now raspy but carefully controlled, a stiff defiance replaced the soft warm timbre. “Depressed artist, drugs, booze, found in a hotel room with a needle in the arm? No. That’s a coward’s way out. He was angry and he was sad, but he wasn’t stupid. He had his mind set on leaving and I was ready to follow him anywhere. Just getting out, find another way to feed and clothes ourselves. As long as he could play and hear me sing, it didn’t matter where we would be or what we would be doing. We’d make an honest living, and we’d have each other.”

Jesse right hand, now placed in front of himself right next to Rhett’s elbow, has clenched into a fist. His chest heaved with rapid, stifled breaths. “But the company still owned us.” The sapphire irises hardened. Their glint matched the cold, sharp obsidian sitting at the storyteller’s throat. “As soon as word got out that we wanted to go our own way, they turned on us like wolves. They got all these lawyers together, sayin' we breached our contract, and threatened to sue us for hundreds of thousands. How can that make sense? They were the ones who broke their promises, and we were nineteen and had nothing beyond the clothes on our backs.” Blue eyes flickered back to the wood grain, the angry glint was obscured by dark lashes.

“I was scared. I was a mess. I put on a brave face when he was pacing around calling banks and talking about loans. He wanted to hire our own lawyer. I just nodded and agreed when he said everything was going to be ok. I couldn’t help. Any time we didn’t spend together I was just hiding in my room sniveling like an idiot.”

A long pause hang in the air. Jesse slowly shook his head, the movement almost undetectable. His fist slowly relaxed. Long fingers absent-mindedly stretched towards Rhett’s arm, but held still midway. When he lifted his exquisite, mournful face, the twilight illuminated shiny trails of tears on his cheeks.

“That morning he took my car to the bank. Hadn’t gotten around to replacing the broken taillight on his own. Being scared of going to court made us extra careful I think. Now that I think about it, if it hadn’t been my car, they wouldn’t have called _me_. It’s not like I’m family. But I was the one to get the call, and all I remember were the words ‘crash’ and ‘fire’. I still don’t understand what happened. Something about impact puncturing the gas tank. But how? I saw him just two hours ago. He kissed me and said 'I love you' and he’ll be right back. And then...everything was just…over.”

Agony and disbelief hovered in those unfocused eyes. He had looked so vulnerable, like defenseless wild flowers in the pouring rain. Rhett felt a stinging pressure in his sinus before he noticed the wetness on his own cheeks. Overwhelmed by a protective impulse, he leaned forward and took Jesse’s right hand into both of his own hands. The heat from his broad palms enveloped the cold, trembling fingers.

Jesse looked up, his eyes shimmering with a hint of surprise, but also a glimmer of trust and gratitude. “After I put down the phone, I just grabbed my jacket and went to the airport. I had to go. I can’t stay. I can’t ever go back there. Don’t remember the rest of that day but…then I was home. My parents took me in and called the landlord, arranged for everything to be packed and shipped to me. He had left his guitar at my place and they sent it thinking it was mine. When I saw it I almost broke down. Well, more than how big a mess I already was. But I held on to it. I can never let it go. The guitar and this.” Jesse reached for his pendant and caressed the gem as if it had a life of its own. His bare chest heaved silently with a strained effort to breathe. His eyes never left Rhett’s. He recognized something in those hazel eyes of the passing hiker. It was as if he had gazed into those eyes countless times before and confided earnestly. It was as if those eyes have always understood him. It was as if the two of them have always trusted each other and cared for each other.

It was as if they had met in another life and had been in love ever since.

Without a word, Rhett slowly raised his right hand, cupped Jesse’s cheek and gently swiped it with his thumb. His warm touch removed the wet trails of tears from the marble-like skin. Jesse’s eyes widened slightly. His expression softened and the full pink lips parted. With a smooth movement of his muscular arm he put his left hand around Rhett’s wrist, keeping the comforting hand pressed against his cheekbone. Rhett gasped at the icy grip, but quickly smoothed over his expression.

“Will you play for me?”

“Of course.” Rhett gave a steady, throaty reply. Jesse fixed his tender gaze on Rhett’s face as the handsome blond lifted his tall frame from the wooden chair. He held onto the hiker’s wrist as Rhett walked around the table and came face to face with the brunet. Jesse slid his fingers along the back of Rhett’s hand and then encircled his palm. He stood up and led the guest towards the bedroom.   


	7. Chapter 7

As soon as Rhett stepped into the bedroom his eyes were arrested by the beautiful instrument resting in one corner of the room. It was a Taylor guitar, the kind that Rhett dreamed of owning but couldn’t yet afford. Jesse gently let go of his hand, walked over to the corner, and carefully picked up the instrument with both hands. He turned and handed it over to the hiker. A look of trust and ardent anticipation gleamed in his eyes. He turned towards the bed with light steps, then drew himself completely onto the bed, arms hugging his knees. When the sparkling eyes returned to Rhett’s face, they were as tranquil as the morning sky after a rainstorm. Rhett’s heart sped up to the sight of exquisite innocence.

Rhett took long, confident strides to seat himself on the other end of the bed. He set his left leg on its side atop the bedding, keeping his knee bent. His cargo shorts were still slightly damp from his earlier excursion, but he has long forgotten the discomfort and focused only on the beautiful stranger. He swung the guitar in position with a graceful ease. Of course he knew which song to play. It was as if the frets and strings were whispering to his fingers, telling them exactly where to go.

Rhett picked a few familiar chords and watched as recognition lit up the cherubic face. With fervent eyes and a lovely smile Jesse began to sing the words. The sweet voice reminded Rhett of clear, cheery brooks, and honeysuckles on the summer breeze. The guitarist lost himself in the song:

Today I started loving you again,

I’m right back where I've really always been;

I got over you just long enough to let my heartache mend,

Then today I started loving you again…

 

What a fool I was to think I could get by

With only these few million tears I've cried.

I should have known the worst was yet to come.

And that crying time for me had just begun.

 

'Cause Today I Started Loving You Again,

I'm right back where I've really always been;

I got over you just long enough to let my heartache mend,

Then Today I Started Loving You Again.

After the last few notes left his fingertips, Rhett looked up at his dark-haired host. Jesse’s eyelashes fluttered as he quickly wiped under his eyes with the back of his hand. The tan, slim figure agilely hopped off the bed and gently took the instrument from Rhett’s hands. He turned briefly to set the guitar against the wall behind himself, then turned back to the handsome blond. Rhett lifted his left leg from the bed and adjusted himself to face Jesse. Their eyes locked in a tender gaze as the brunet glided forward until his shins pressed against Rhett’s knees. The coldness emanating from his skin did nothing to dull Rhett’s desire. The hiker raised his hands and softly clasped Jesse’s narrow waist. The chiseled muscles chilled his hot palms as if he was caressing a marble angle. Jesse’s expression melted into an intoxicated smile. He pressed his fingers on the backs of Rhett’s hands, and glided them up the full length of those long arms, until they found the valley between Rhett’s shoulder blades. The motion was agonizingly slow. His icy, teasing touch left a tingly trail that made Rhett shudder. The blond closed those hazel eyes under the thick, expressive brows, and parted his fuchsia lips. He felt the marble palms on his upper back press harder, drawing him forward. He obliged and tilted his head back. His feverish mouth was brushed by a chilling breeze, then met by soft cold lips that moved with fiery passion.

Rhett’s hands traveled to the brunet’s spine, drawing the slim figure between his knees and constraining him there with muscular thighs and long, strong arms. The trapped body returned his indulgence by leaning forward, bending Rhett’s back until the tall blond struggled to keep his balance on the edge of the bed. The iciness of the mysterious lips almost stung, but the stimulation was exhilarating, like millions of electrified needles pricking every inch of his skin. Reason and prohibition drained from his body as he gave himself over to the beautiful stranger holding him at the edge of falling. Rhett felt the sharp tip of Jesse’s pendant swing against his skin and lightly scrape his throat, adding to the dizzying mixture of sensations. He breathed in shallow, desperate gasps. Jesse’s right hand raked up Rhett’s neck and then the back of his head. Cold fingers closed around the roots of the guitarist’s blond hair. The sharp tip of the singer’s tongue caressed Rhett’s full bottom lip. Rhett relaxed his jaw in invitation. Their tongues mingled in a strange dance of fire and ice.

Rhett did not know how long he spent in the precarious ecstasy when he felt a sharp but pleasant pinch. Jesse had gently nibbled his bottom lip before he drew back and returned the tall stranger to his center of gravity. His marble fingers relaxed from Rhett’s hair and slid down the side of his neck. The singer traced the pad of his thumb along the strong tendon and pressed into the soft concave at the base of Rhett’s throat. Rhett reluctantly opened his eyes.

“Stay.”

Rhett was happily bound by the spell that emanated from the smoldering ocean eyes. He was still lost in delight as the room slowly blurred into a hazy fog, and darkness permeated his vision. The world slipped away from his consciousness.


	8. Chapter 8

Rhett felt a bright heat on his eyelids before he opened his eyes to a curtain-less window. The morning sun was burning white hot. He squinted hard and rubbed his eyes roughly. His stomach groaned in hunger while he winced at the salty aftertaste that had lingered in his mouth overnight. He blinked slowly and took in the unfamiliar wall paper and the guitar resting against it. He remembered his fingers pressing and picking those strings and later gripping the wintry skin of a statuesque brunet. He remembered the icy kiss that burned with wild desire and the marble arms that held him in dizzying suspension.

“Jesse?”

Rhett gently called out the name of the mystery after he realized that he was definitely alone. The only reply he heard was the hypnotic rustling of leaves outside the window.

He reluctantly propped himself up with his right elbow and swung his lethargic legs off of the bed. His cargo shorts have dried, but they emanated an unpleasant musty scent from rain mixed with sweat and then toasted by body heat. He stared at the guitar, contemplating the seemingly impossible chain of events that have led him onto this bed, unable to remember how he passed out. He stood up with a grunt.

The soreness was as anticipated, but not the worst Rhett has experienced. He paced into the living room, looked around, then turned back through the hallway into the kitchen. The strange man that kissed him was nowhere to be found.

_He had asked me to stay_. Rhett thought, confused and hurt. _So why did he just disappear?_

He turned on the tap and gathered water in his palms. He rinsed his mouth a few times, drank some, and ran his wet palms down his face. He took a deep breath, enjoying the sensation of cool water evaporating from his skin, and turned off the tap. When he stepped into the living room everything had looked the same; maybe brighter and more vivid in the morning sun. The old fashioned lamp was still on. Rhett tapped a small silver lever on the stocky base and turned it off. The hiking sustenance he had laid out on the table was still there. A rumpled crimson towel hang limp on the back of the chair he had sat in. With a frown, Rhett picked up one of the protein bars and started gnawing at it slowly. He stepped out onto the porch.

The rain-washed forest was beautiful. The damp soil took on the warm hue of bitter chocolate and obsidian gems. The moist leaves tremored in the gentle breeze, their luxurious color blending into a sea of shimmering peridots. Rhett raised his eyes to the azure sky, but all he could think of was a pair of deep set eyes in the same color glimmering under fringes of dark lashes. Rhett was exasperated by the absent stranger and by himself.

_He shouldn’t have left without a word. Not after a kiss like that._

_I shouldn’t have fallen for someone so quickly._

His eyelids pressed shut and his brows furrowed into a knot. The tall blond quickly shook his head and turned back into the cabin. He held the half eaten protein bar between his teeth and picked up his socks from next to his backpack, and quickly pulled them on. He left his t-shirt on top of his backpack overnight. It had dried, but the mass of wrinkles from how they were knotted yesterday could not be salvaged. He pursed his lips and inserted his arms into the tube of musty fabric. Dressed, he swiftly picked up his backpack and slung it onto his shoulders. He was about to storm out of the door when a thought held him still.

_What if he had left a note telling me where he went? And…or…telling me to wait because he’ll be right back?_

Rhett checked the teak table and did not see what he was looking for. He went back into the bedroom. Last night he had ignored all of his surroundings; now he observed the room carefully. The first place he looked was the nightstand next to the modest twin bed. There was no note. Rhett stared at the brass pull handle affixed to the shallow drawer. He slowly pulled it open despite the voice of reason screaming at him not to. The drawer was empty as well. Rhett was slowly overcome by a cold, sinking feeling. He turned to look at the closet in the opposite wall. It held nothing. Panicked, he ran into the kitchen and flung open the cabinets. All he saw inside was dust. He then ran back into the living room and balked in front of the narrow closet by the door. His heart was pounding from his sprinting around at the elevated altitude, and from his trepidation of finding a heartbreaking answer to questions that terrified him.

_Was he even real? Could I have dreamt the whole thing?_

Rhett’s shaking fingers gripped the acrylic knob and pulled the door open. On the top shelf sat the double-barreled weaponry that pointed at his chest less than 24 hours ago. He held the cold metal as his mind wandered back to the tan, lean arms that had held it yesterday. The arms that supported his arching body as they kissed and sent shivers down his pine. He shuddered in the warm morning light.

With an experienced eye he examined the gun and realized it was not loaded. He opened the retaining clog. The crucial spring was missing. That meant this weapon couldn’t possibly have fired. He then removed the top barrel and tried to cock the gun, but felt an immovable jam. It would take a good amount of professional touch to get this weapon functional again. It appeared whoever had owned it simply abandoned it.

Rhett felt light-headed and short of breath. He returned the moot weapon to its previous position and closed the closet door. The blond head hung low between slumped shoulders. Rhett had assumed that this was the reclusive dwelling of the mysterious beautiful man, but there was no indication that anyone had lived here for a long, long time. The hiker felt as if he had never been so lost, even though he knew exactly where he was. He felt a gripping compulsion to run. He couldn’t just stand there in the empty room thinking about the kiss, the cold but tender lips, the masculine stubble, the perfectly straight nose and the haunting blue eyes. He had to get on with his life and not give in to this newfound obsession.

_He’s just a stranger after all_. Rhett told himself again and again as he left the cabin, found his way out of the woods, and almost jogged back down the hiking trail. He got into his car and turned the radio up loud, desperate for a distraction. As he zipped down the highway, Lara Fabian’s haunting chant billowed out of the stereo:

I don't know where to find you,

I don't know how to reach you,

I hear your voice in the wind,

I feel you under my skin,

Within my heart and my soul,

I wait for you.


	9. Chapter 9

Rhett’s long fingers danced on the thick, knobby keys as he typed his student ID and password into the login window. He hit the enter key and the dusty computer responded with a promising hum. The computer lab was conveniently empty on the first day of classes at ten in the morning. Granted, Rhett was supposed to be attending the intro poli-sci class he needed to fulfill the social science requirement for graduation, but he decided that nothing noteworthy would be covered in the first session anyway and he needed to do his research undisturbed.

_I’m not obsessing. I just need some answers._

The majority of Rhett’s peers were still warming to the idea of a “search engine”, but the savvy engineering student has more than mastered the freshly invented cyber tool. He completed the dialup, clicked on the Internet Explorer icon and typed in the URL for Google’s home page. The blank search box and blinking cursor waited for an unknown question. Rhett was suddenly nervous. He twisted the gunmetal stud in his left ear and stalled for a few seconds. With a deep breath he finally decided to look up Eagle Rock’s landscape first and try to find out more about the cabin. He expanded the relevant map sections he found, hunched his tall body closer to the dusty, curved screen and scrutinized the elusive graphs. There was no marking of any buildings within the parameters where Rhett estimated he was. Maybe it was built after anyone bothered to update these maps, he thought. Maybe it was an unlicensed private construction that hid from the official records.

The young man refused to acknowledge his dejection. _If worst comes to worst, Eagle Rock is only a half-hour drive from campus. I could always go back to find out more…_

Rhett felt the familiar spark of an on-coming obsession and nipped it in the bud. _Maybe there’s a more direct way_ , he thought. It was time to face the mystery head-on.

_Jesse Stevenson_.

He enunciated the name in his mind as he slowly typed the words. He almost didn’t want to know.

The first few pages of search results offered no answer. He browsed and exited brief bios of law professors, community organizers and local actors. There were even a few porn stars mixed up in there. After all, it was a common name without much else to go on.

A link on the sixth page caught Rhett’s eye: _Missing Local Found at Eagle Rock_. The brief description had contained the name he was searching for and the word “body”.

_Body?_

Alarm gripped Rhett’s heart. He swallowed the rising panic and clicked the result. It was a short article from Grace Community Church Newsletter dated June 8, 1978.

_North Carolina State Police Sgt. Curtiss Wright has finally released a statement concerning former chorister Jesse Charles Stevenson, found dead at Eagle Rock, Shumont Mountain last week. Hikers discovered his body under a cliff northwest of the “Jeep Trail”. Sgt. Wright concluded that the fall that caused his death was most likely accidental._

_Mr. Stevenson was a valuable member of the congregation. He has dedicated his time and efforts to our choir for six years. His talent and contribution has brought our community closer together. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. May our lord bless and protect his soul._

In the upper left corner of the page was the picture of a smiling chorister. It was a dark-haired, clean-shaven teenager with a healthy tan. He had wide full lips under a deep Cupid’s bow, an angular nose with a cute pointy tip, elegantly slanted brows, and tranquil blue eyes like the Carolinian mountain sky on a sunny morning.

Rhett felt as if his blood froze over.

Jesse Stevenson has been dead for twenty-two years.


	10. Chapter 10

The glare from the CRT monitor projected a harsh, pale reflection onto Rhett’s face. He stared at the webpage in front of him, willing it to change or disappear, to tell a different story; but the images and words were as still as if they were set in stone. He was powerless in the crashing realization that Jesse’s death was no accident. The love of his life had perished, and he was ready to follow him into the dark. The young singer with too much talent for this world had embarked on a fateful journey with nothing but his lover’s guitar. He hid his treasure in an abandoned cabin forgotten by the universe, and leapt into the world beyond.

_No…no, it can’t be…I saw him…I felt him…I watched his teardrops fall and I heard him talk and sing…_

_He gave me the best kiss I have ever had._

_I think I fell in l—_

The ringing in Rhett’s ear put his train of thought to a screeching stop. He dug his fingers into his temples and closed his eyes.

_Of course, it all makes sense now. Why his footsteps had never made a single sound, why he could openly confess his love for a man without mundane concerns of judgment, why his eyes were so incredibly haunting…_

_Why he was so very cold._

Even being open-minded about afterlife and spiritual presence, Rhett still couldn’t escape the shock from knowing that he encountered the manifestation of a passed soul. His racing thoughts were still scrambling to find reason and logic when the door to the computer lab swung open and a raucous group of freshmen filed in. Rhett was pulled out of his daze. He looked at the lower right corner of the computer screen. He had Material Science in half an hour. He logged off with a sigh and picked up his backpack. Reality demanded his attention.

Rhett mindlessly shuffled into the campus café and asked for an espresso. He couldn’t possibly stomach much else. Waiting for his order, he heard a vaguely familiar melody. It was a different verse from the Lara Fabian song that was playing on the radio on his drive home:

If you know where to find me

If you know how to reach me

Before this light fades away

Before I run out of faith

Be the only man to say

That you'll hear my heart

Rhett groaned. Is the world all around him conspiring to imprison him in this new obsession? He chugged the bitter liquid, flung the empty cup into the trash, and stormed into the Engineering Building.

When he walked into his Material Science class Rhett aimed straight for the very last row of the auditorium. He was too tall to sit anywhere else. He shuffled between the seats until he found the right angle to see the blackboard well, and settled in. He pulled out the swivel table from the armrest and lay his thick textbook open on top of it, eyes fixed to the introductory page. The room slowly and noisily filled up. He did not see a single thing from the page. He could only think about one thing: _I kissed a ghost and I liked it_.

Out of the corner of his eye, a slim figure settled into the seat on his left, he turned and flashed a quick, polite smile. Just as he was going to turn back, something held his eyes.

A glint rolled off the chiseled surface of a pendant in the color of bitter chocolate. The faceted gem tapered to a bent tip, taking the shape of a wolf’s fang. Leather cords hooked through the top of the obsidian and climbed over sharp collar bones. They were pulled taut like fretted strings on a guitar.

Rhett’s eyes traveled up in shock and amazement. He recognized the square jaw covered in stubbles, the soft pale pink lips, and the angular nose with a pointy tip. There was a pair of black-framed glasses sitting on the chiseled nose bridge. Long, raven curls caressed the exquisite face.

Behind the glasses, the bluest eyes Rhett has ever seen gazed back. They were glimmering with a warm smile, but Rhett recognized the haunting sadness of century-old souls.

Rhett’s mind raced past fuzzy recollections of legends and myths of rebirth and reincarnation, and settled on the feeling that he already knew this stunning young man. He knew the story of his past life. He knew he had a beautiful soul.

It was as if he had met him in another universe, and had loved him ever since.

Before Rhett realized how intently he had been staring, the young man on his left had extended his broad palm and long fingers. “Hi, I’m Link.” Rhett mirrored the sunny smile and shook the friendly hand. It was warm, firm and familiar. “I’m Rhett.” Link seemed amused and fascinated by the attention from the handsome blond, and cocked his head slightly to the side.

“Have we met?”

“No, I don’t think so. But you look like an old friend.”

 

* * *

 

Inspirations and references:

[I Will Follow You into the Dark [COVER]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2m4eEbnR5I) by Kurt Hugo Schneider  
[Today I Started Loving You Again](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PY2yW9Biyo) by Merle Haggard  
[Adagio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj4-dG92Umo) by Lara Fabian (English version)  
[Like Real People Do](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrleydRwWms) by Hozier

**Author's Note:**

> Inspirations and references:  
> I Will Follow You into the Dark [COVER] by Kurt Hugo Schneider  
> Today I Started Loving You Again by Merle Haggard  
> Adagio by Lara Fabian (English version)  
> Like Real People Do by Hozier
> 
>  
> 
> *English is not my native language, and this is my first fan fic. I would love to hear what you think of the story, and how I could improve my writing in general.*


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